Wallace+v.+Jaffree

Wallace v. Jaffree United States Supreme Court Argued December 4, 1984 Decided June 4, 1985 Background: The Plaintiff and father of three, Ishmael Jaffree sought a declaratory judgment and an injunction prohibiting the defendants from allowing and maintaining regular religious prayer services or other forms of religious observances in the Mobile County public school system. Jaffree declares that his children’s classmates exposed them to ostracism for not participating in the prayers. The question is, does the First Amendment require that a statute be invalidated if it is entirely motivated by a purpose to advance religion? In the case of Engel v. Vitale, the Court of Appeals held that the teachers' religious activities violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and that both statutes advance and encourage religious activities.

Decision and Rationale:

= = The First Amendment says that the statute must be overturned if it is motivated by a purpose to advance religion. . The Court held that Alabama's passage of the prayer and meditation statute was not only a deviation from the state's duty to maintain absolute neutrality toward religion, but was an affirmative endorsement of religion. It was clear that this was passed to return prayer back in the public schools. What the legislative was trying to do is totally different from protecting every student right to voluntary prayer during the appropriate time.

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Impact on Teaching:

Teachers, as any citizen of the United States, are free to practice the religion of their choice. That religion is allowed to be practiced openly and unashamedly in their place of employment. However, at any point a teacher is intentionally attempting to convert, proselytize, or force a religious practice upon a student, they have over stepped their bounds and allowances. Educators must be careful in celebrating their own religious freedom while not infringing upon that of another, namely a student. Teachers who are deliberately causing students to adhere to any religious practice can face negative repercussions.

Submitted by: Sam Knight, Randall McCarty, Alex Mathis

True/False A teacher may or may not choose to lead their class in a prayer if asked to do so by a student.